Dorval accident shocks Montreal bus drivers

Fireman packs up gear at the scene of a fatal collision between a car and a city bus on 55th Ave. in Dorval on Tuesday. (THE GAZETTE/John Mahoney)John Mahoney
/ The Gazette

Two women who were passengers on a city bus that collided with a car on 55th Ave. in Dorval sit on a curb waiting to speak to investigators Tuesday. Two people were killed in the accident.John Mahoney
/ The Gazette

Related

MONTREAL - Montreal bus drivers expressed shock and surprise that one of their vehicles rolled on its side during a spectacular accident Tuesday night that killed a veteran bus driver and a passenger in a BMW.

“They aren’t very easy to turn over, this is only the second time I have heard of this in 27 years,” a Montreal bus driver said Wednesday.

Sylvain Ferland, 49, was pinned under the bus after it rolled over following a violent collision with a BMW at an intersection with traffic lights in the industrial area of Dorval, just south of the airport.

The Quebec coroner’s office identified the dead passenger as Janet Stoddard Snider, 61. A 33-year-old woman, who was driving the BMW, was in critical, but stable condition in hospital on Wednesday.

Montreal police have not yet confirmed which vehicle went through a red light. However, police said they have reason to believe that alcohol may have been a factor in the accident. They have asked the driver of the BMW to provide a blood sample, according to Constable Anie Lemieux.

Ferland’s wife is also a bus driver with the Société de Transport de Montréal. A bus driver, who said she is friendly with Ferland’s wife, said the couple live near Mercier, on the South Shore, and have four children. Ferland had been a bus driver for 23 years.

Accident reconstruction experts are trying to piece together how the crash happened. The accident occurred just before 6 p.m. at the intersection of 55th and Lindsay Aves.

Fourteen people were on the bus at the time of the accident and seven people suffered injuries. The 196 bus travels between the Côte Vertu metro station and Lachine.

The STM refused to allow The Gazette to speak to Ferland’s colleagues who work out of a bus depot in LaSalle. “They are in mourning and need to be left alone,” said STM spokesperson Marianne Rouette.

The STM is investigating the accident and will try to determine why the bus rolled over, Rouette said.

The bus involved in the accident is a low-floor model that came into service in 2001, Rouette said. All of the buses in the STM’s fleet are low-floor buses. At rush hour, the STM has about 1,470 buses on the road each weekday.

A spokesperson for Nova Bus, which supplies the STM with its fleet of buses, said the company will participate in the police and STM investigations to find out what caused the bus to roll over on its side.

“This was a really, really sad event,” said spokesperson Nadine Bernard, adding that the company has no idea why the bus rolled. “It doesn’t happen very often.”

The bus drivers’ union said several employees were in shock on Wednesday after learning of the death of their colleague.

“We are sad for the family of the bus driver, but we also know that another person died in this accident,” said union spokesperson Tom Mouhteros.

Several drivers arrived at the bus depot with flowers Wednesday morning and counsellors were on hand to talk to employees who required assistance, he said.